Dam developers to meet with Tribal Council Friday
PABLO - Pondera Hydro, Ine, plans to meet with the Tribal Council here at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 7, to make a formal presentation about its proposal to build two small hydropower plants on the Lower Flathead River.
Pondera Hydro wants to enter a joint-venture agreement with the Tribes to develop dams on two Flathead River sites known as Buffalo Rapids 2 and 4.
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"The melding of this project with the eventual ownership of Kerr Dam will greatly enhance the future self-determination of the Tribes," PHI president Fred Houle, Jr., said
Other benefits of the development include revenue to the Tribes, construction jobs for Reservation residents that would help the local economy, aid to the Tribes' water rights claims, and the creation of new waterfront property.
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A special note to post-and-pole cutters:
If you're interested in learning about, or contributing to the discussion of proposed lodgepole regulations, you'll want to attend the March 18 Council meeting in Pablo at Tribal headquarters, beginning at 9 a.m. (See the story on page three.)
Adverse impacts include the potential for harm to the river's fishery and wildlife habitat, and the flooding of 7,000-8,000 acres of land, some of it considered culturally valuable.
The new firm has set up an information office in Ronan and recently announced the affiliation of CH2M Hill, Inc., a Seattle hydroelectric engineering firm
One of the information office's current projects is developing a man-(Concludes on page two)
District meeting set for next Thursday
A combined Arlee-St Ignatius-Dixon district meeting will convene at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, at the community center in St. Ignatius.
Topics to be discussed are hunting regulations (Ordinance 44C), the FIIP memo of agreement, Tribal community water systems rate changes, and other subjects as time allows.
Chili and frybread will be served
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